Harley helps.

Harley, my hard-working sewing assistant.

Monday, June 25, 2012

cake vs. frosting

I really, really wanted to sew this weekend and did just about everything but. I did manage to cut out pattern pieces and muslin for v8784 and pattern pieces for v8512, and I wound up making an emergency JoAnn run on Sunday because I was out of muslin. (I wish I could just muslin stuff out of thrifted bedsheets or something instead of buying new fabric, but we don't have any decent Goodwill or Salvation Army stores close to us.)

Which, actually, is a problem that keeps coming up: I don't have any fabric.

Oh, I have cotton. Tons and tons of novelty-printed cotton and calico from Old Sturbridge Village, and more Halloween fabric than you can shake a stick at. (Spiders, I got 'em.) Perfect for tote bags (I have too many) and pot holders (we have enough). And quilting! Unfortunately, I'm not interested in quilting. I looked into it, browsed through a couple of project books, and it makes my head spin. I don't think I have the patience. I'd like to make a duvet cover out of all the Sturbridge fabric, but that's a project for a long, rainy weekend.

What I don't have: Stuff for making clothes. Wool and flannel and jersey and material for lining just about all of the projects I want to do. Right now I really want, like, 10 yards of really good black wool for various projects (interview suit, coat, v8512 if there's enough left) and some really good black flannel (work dresses, blazer). Actually I'd like to make everything out of black flannel, because I love flannel. That's possible, right?

The situation is kind of dire, because I really need a new suit -- the two RTW ones I have are on their way out. And I could use a plain black coat.

Yeah, so. Less frosting, more cake. We're going to NY next week and I might have to set aside some room in the (very minimal) budget for a trip to the Garment District. Sewing still feels like a "like to do" thing instead of a "need to do" thing, though, so I feel guilty spending money on it.